LUMBERTON SOCCER: Lady Raiders are 21-1-3

By Kendrick E. Johnson

Published 12:34 pm, Friday, April 11, 2014

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lumberton's Madison Carlton, No. 13, stops a kick with her head during Friday's match against Vidor. The Lumberton High School girls soccer team played against Vidor at Nederland on Friday afternoon.
Photo taken Friday, 4/4/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lumberton's Madison Carlton, No. 13, stops a kick with her head during Friday's match against Vidor. The Lumberton High School girls soccer team played against Vidor at Nederland on Friday afternoon.
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Photo: Jake Daniels

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Vidor's Sarah Bass, No. 16, vies with Lumberton's Emily Harves, No. 6, for control of the ball during Friday's match. The Lumberton High School girls soccer team played against Vidor at Nederland on Friday afternoon.
Photo taken Friday, 4/4/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Vidor's Sarah Bass, No. 16, vies with Lumberton's Emily Harves, No. 6, for control of the ball during Friday's match. The Lumberton High School girls soccer team played against Vidor at Nederland on Friday ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

LUMBERTON SOCCER: Lady Raiders are 21-1-3

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The Lumberton girls soccer team wants to make a statement.

The Lady Raiders finds themselves in the regional semifinals for the third time in school history, with the past two times coming in 2000 and 2001 (back when the state playoffs had less rounds).

With a victory today over Friendswood, this year's Lumberton squad will have gone further than any team in program history.

"We have been a successful program for a while and this season has been about building upon that success in trying to move it forward," Lumberton head coach Jason Hopson said. "There is probably some schools who haven't heard of us because we haven't been to this stage of the playoffs before but after this tournament they will know who we are."

So far this playoff run, Lumberton (21-1-3) has outscored its opponents 9-1 in four victories while shutting out three of them.

An unsung hero in the Lady Raiders success has been junior middle fielder Lauren Glover. Glover is a two-sport athlete - who is the reigning Super Gold Volleyball MVP - and uses her athleticism and physicality to set a positive tone for the Lady Raiders.

"I'm glad my team depends on me to do the little things nobody sees in the stat book but that is important to us winning games," Glover said, who has been bestowed the nickname 'Beast Mode' by teammates. "I strongly believe we are this far because we have a good team and everybody is great in their role on our team."

The Lady Raiders magical run has them at the epicenter of attention throughout the school and city of Lumberton. A send off celebration is planned in their honor today before team heads off to Humble to continue making history.

A win Friday by Lumberton would put them in Saturday's 1 p.m. Region Final at Humble's Turner Stadium.